I know I'm a bit behind the times, since this movie is several years old and maybe everyone reading this has already seen it, but this amazing film really snuck up on me. "Street Fight" tells the story of candidate Cory Booker during his 2002 bid to become the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. The film pits Booker, a 32 year old wunderkind (Rhodes Scholar, Yale Law graduate, former Stanford University football standout) versus the established 32-year! incumbent, Sharpe James. I love that name, it's almost as telegraphic about his M.O. as Boss Tweed's name was. And Sharpe James's political machine is probably just as entertaining to watch in action. Watch as James's flunkies continuously grab the lens of the documentarian's camera as he films a public! event on a public! street in the City of Newark. Watch as James brings three busloads of pollworkers in from PHILADELPHIA on the day of the election while simultaneously claiming that all of his pollworkers are volunteers while Booker's are all paid outsiders ("He's a carpetbagger. He can't buy this election," Sharpe quips.) Watch as James racebaits Booker by saying that he is backed by "Jews and the Ku Klux Klan." Both Booker and James are African American, by the way.One of the reasons I'm compelled to blog about this now is that it seems very well timed. I can't help but compare Booker to Obama, and if you watch I think you'll see the same intense spirit of optimism in the two. If you have Netflix, this is available on their "Watch Instantly" feature, which is how I watched it. Also, I'll just point out that this film was actually nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for Best Documentary Feature. Here's the trailer, should you need more enticement.
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